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An Islamic Happy Birthday

Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25, although Christ’s actual day of birth remains shrouded in mystery. Muslims, particularly adherents to the Sufi order, celebrate the birthday of Prophet Muhammad ibn Abdullah in the third month of the Muslim calendar. The celebrations of the birth of Christ and the birth of Muhammad have much in common: poetry and songs and references to sacred texts. The Qur’anic injunction that Sufis invoke is “O ye who believe! Ask blessings on him and salute him with a worthy salutation.” [33:56]

What could be considered the Islamic equivalent of Christmas has multiple names. Mawlid an-Nabi is the term used in Egypt and Sudan; Mevlid Serif is used in Turkey, the Kurds use Mawlud Sharif, Malaysians use Maulidur-Rasul, and the rest of the world knows the holiday by the term Mouloud, which means “Birth of the Prophet,” is used elsewhere.

Observance of Mouloud dates back around 909 A.D. to the Fatimids, an Ismaili Shia Islamic caliphate spanning North Africa and encompassing the current territory held by Maghreb, Sudan, Sicily, the Levant, and Hijaz. The Ottomans declared Mouloud an official holiday in 1588.

Western Muslims have, in large measure, incorporated Mouloud into their annual celebrations. According to the Islamic Supreme Council of America, “Mawlid an-Nabi is now listed among the public holidays of nearly every country in the Muslim world. Along with the two Eids, this holiday is now widely celebrated by Muslims of different sectarian and tariqa backgrounds.”

Both a spiritual and social holiday, Mawlid an-Nabi celebrants revisit the Sirah (the life story of Prophet Muhammad). Singers in the Sufi tradition remind members of the Ummah about the teachings and challenges the young Muslim community faced in Mecca and Medina, which also goes to remind current practitioners of Islam that their faith did not spring fully formed and entrenched in the world. Like Christianity and Judaism before it, Islam met with resistance before widespread adoption and needed time to develop the traditions it currently follows.

Mouloud celebrations, influenced by Western secularism, can turn into religious carnivals with street processions and decorations festooning mosques and homes. Adherents engaged in charity and distribute food while children recite poetry. Mutton serves as the main entree on celebrants’ supper tables.

The celebration of the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday still encounters resistance as contrary to Islamic law in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, where the dominant Wahhabism/Salafism, Deobandism, and Ahmadiyya denominations disapprove of the celebration. In those countries, the faithful mark the occasion with fasting during the day and spending more time reading the Qur’an.

This year, Mouloud is celebrated on November 30.

By Karen M. Smith